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Health Canada funds Francophone health programs at LU, Boreal

Health Canada has announced significant funding for both Laurentian University and College Boreal that will enable both post-secondary institutitions to provide quality health care programs for French speaking students and the City of Greater Sudbury
Health Canada has announced significant funding for both Laurentian University and College Boreal that will enable both post-secondary institutitions to provide quality health care programs for French speaking students and the City of Greater Sudbury.

Sudbury MP Diane Marleau and Nickel Belt MP Ray Bonin made the announcement on behalf of Pierre Pettigrew, federal Minister of Health.

The federal government will be allocating $6.36 million over the next five years to Laurentian and $2.54 million to College Boreal over the same time period. The grant will support training and retention of health professionals to serve francophone communities.

?The implementation of these measures demonstrates the Government of Canada's ongoing commitment to supporting the vitality of the official languages minority community by giving them better access to health services,? said Marleau, in a press release. ?These funds will enable Laurentian University and College Boreal to increase the number of students registered in their health care training programs and to further promote their programs to facilitate recruitment of students.?

Bonin was also excited by the news.

?This federal initiative will allow Laurentian University and College Boreal to achieve their development objectives in health, a field which we have identified as a priority area for development,? said Bonin. ?This investment will encourage Francophones interested in a career in the health sector to study and remain in Northern Ontario.?

The funding will allow Laurentian to increase by 254 the number of students registered in its nursing, social work, midwifery education and health promotions programs.

Laurentian is also looking at developing new French language programs such as a Bachelor degree in health sciences, Masters program in nursing and psychology as well as a PhD in health sciences. Laurentian will also pursue its ongoing collaboration in nursing with College Boreal.

Laurentian will also develop several media-based courses to increase the distance education potential to ensure a wider access to French language programs in Francophone communities across the country. It also plans on dedicating resources towards the development and support of clinical placements for the medical school so that students can remain in their community.

The funding will allow College Boreal to accept just under 400 more students in its Health Sciences programs over the next five years.

The college will increase clinical space for some programs, such as medical radiation technology, and will acquire new equipment and laboratories to stimulate this increase.

The college will also share its expertise in the development of new course material through its affiliation with a national consortium in health training.






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